Guns, gold, and spirit of Jefferson rise again

Exclusive: Jim Fletcher reviews 'It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government is Wrong'

Blogger and researcher Jim Fletcher has worked in the book publishing industry for 15 years, and is now director of the apologetics group Prophecy Matters. His new book, "Truth Wins," provides important analysis of Rob Bell and his Emergent friends.

Until very recently, I was one of millions who blissfully rolled along, assuming that American government existed for the good of the people.

I don’t believe that anymore.

Part of my awakening has been fostered by simple observation: increasing obtrusiveness, reckless and ridiculous spending, the subsidizing of questionable foreign entities, and so forth.

The real awakening, however, has come from listening to people like Andrew Napolitano. The well-known judge-turned-television commentator and author has written bestselling books, and his work on Fox has brought to the attention of the public the excesses of Washington. This is a guy who knows the Constitution backwards and forwards, and now he discusses this and much more in a chilling new book, “It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government Is Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom.”

The book’s title is ominous, and it is no mere marketing ploy. The author means exactly what it says. The information he provides inside will answer some hard questions, namely, do we still have a Constitution? Who are the people behind the scenes, working day and night to take that document away from us?

Personal freedom, my friends, is in peril.

Napolitano, God love him, isn’t afraid at all to expose the sinister nature of our elected officials.

He also offers some advice that goes far beyond bold: “If there is any message that I hope to communicate in this book, it is that all of us should be constantly questioning the validity of our officials’ commands. We must learn the lessons taught in ‘Common Sense,’ demanded in the Declaration of Independence and promised in the Bill of Rights, and we must stop obeying the unjust laws with which the government enslaves.”

Wow, did you get that? Somebody has the moxie to tell the people that they are not serving the government – it’s the other way around.

“It Is Dangerous to Be Right” is an amazingly provocative book, but Napolitano makes so many salient points, it’s obvious that the topic is deeply personal for him. In the lengthy introduction, the judge expertly looks at where our natural rights come from, and he also provides a great anecdote that proves what happens when reckless governments (in his example, the Soviets) enact laws or set policies that fly in the face of reality.

Napolitano, though, really starts with what he calls “Jefferson’s Masterpiece” (if you don’t know what he’s referring to, please stop reading and go back to your reality show). Here, Napolitano makes a statement that rings with clarity: “What is a right? A right is a gift from God that extends from our humanity.”

From there, “It Is Dangerous to Be Right” moves into a discussion of our rights to private property, and as always, Napolitano provides real-life stories to illustrate the kind of theft our government has come to sanction. Just read about what happened to Henry Weinstein’s property in Brooklyn!

Chapter 6 (“You Can Leave Me Alone”) reveals the breathtaking surveillance measures the government implemented in the wake of 9/11. Napolitano makes the point that if one wants to enjoy a leisurely day around Manhattan, at the end of the day that person has no idea that he has been tracked by 3,000 public cameras and 100 license plate reading devices.

We are only now awakening to the limits to our personal freedoms the government has put in place, ostensibly to “make us safer.” “It Is Dangerous to Be Right” sheds new light on this, and the author makes it much easier to digest by highlighting the personal stories of scores of real Americans.

Napolitano winds it all up with a left hook to the government’s mid-section. Chapter 15 (“Disobeying Stupidity”) is just plain fun. The author explains how the Founding Fathers viewed such things as land allocation and, by golly, reminds us that once, the people did change the government: “It is the duty of moral persons to study the ideas espoused by classical liberal philosophers such as John Locke, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine.”

Napolitano concludes his book by reminding us that it isn’t always enough to vote party, but to keep our eyes on the prize: Who will determine to be vigilant in national government, to ensure that all our freedoms are guarded.

He ends with these wonderful words: “But Americans have accepted danger before. And there are stirrings in the land that enough is enough. Wise folks are buying guns and gold.”

You will learn much from this book, about how to defend yourself and loved ones. Time is of the essence.

I’ve read all of Judge Napolitano’s books and have thoroughly enjoyed every one. This latest effort is nothing short of extraordinary.